A Level student Louis Edwards has secured a place at a prestigious London Conservatoire. In September, he will be heading to Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance to continue his studies and pursue his music dreams.
Louis is in his second year at Neath College and is studying A Level Music, English Language and Sociology. Music has been his passion from a young age, and he wanted to come to Neath College because he had heard so much positive feedback about the music course.
When Louis started studying A Level Music, he found the jump up from GCSE extremely tough, but the support from the lecturers helped him settle in quickly. He feels that the lecturers have helped him develop both musically and personally during his time at college.
When choosing the next steps upon completion of his A Levels, Louis wanted to focus on music. Through speaking to his lecturer, he learnt more about Conservatoires and what they had to offer.
“Before I came to college, I didn’t know too much about Conservatoires and what they were. I just knew you could go to music college, but I didn’t know how. Through speaking to my lecturer and finding out more I decided to apply to a Conservatoire.
I was more of a musical theatre performer and when I decided that I wanted to go to a conservatoire I realized that it would be more classical music based and I had to investigate the classical side of things, which I now absolutely love. Classical music and opera are amazing.”
Louis knew that lots of people apply for Conservatoires each year and only a handful are successful. His lecturer helped him with the application, they got stuck into it straight away to meet the deadline. His lecturer also put him in touch with the UCAS team at Neath College to make sure Louis had all the support and guidance he needed.
“She got me in touch with them straight away and the next day I went down to speak to Petra (Senior Officer: Higher Education Student Experience), who was just phenomenal and guided me through the whole process of applying to the Conservatoire. She was supportive, and if I needed anything she was great. It just made it all a lot easier and without her, I don’t think it would have been possible to get where I am with my application process now.”
After completing the application, Louis was invited to an audition at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London and was offered a place to study at the Conservatoire from September 2024.
“The support and guidance from the college was instrumental in making my London Conservatoire dream a reality. I will forever cherish this experience as a testament to the belief that anything is possible, you just need to take the leap, and you’ll be surprised by the outcome.”
Louis benefited from the College’s ‘Widening Access’ provision which falls under the ‘Reaching Wider’ national programme, funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW). It aims to increase higher education participation from under-represented groups by raising educational aspirations and skills and creating innovative study opportunities and learning pathways to higher education.
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You can find out more about our UCAS team and UCAS application process by clicking the button below or you can email: UCAS@nptcgroup.ac.uk
